The mayor of Albufeira, José Carlos Rolo, criticized last Friday the recurring use of the example of his municipality to talk about crime in the country, based on numbers that “do not correspond to reality”.
In a statement, the mayor considers that “there is a clear manipulation” of the numbers revealed by the National Statistics Institute (INE), which result from the sum of crimes recorded during the summer, when the population increases, and accounted for only by the 44 thousand residents.
“The statistics are the result of summations and, in the case of Albufeira, which has a population of around 44 thousand inhabitants, it records an exponential increase in the so-called high season, reaching around 500 thousand people in this municipality”, maintains the mayor.
For José Carlos Rolo “it does not make sense that the total number of registered crimes, encompassing the floating population, is assessed per 100 inhabitants”.
Speaking to Lusa, José Carlos Rolo regretted that the municipality of Albufeira “is systematically mentioned” when talking about crime in the country, as happened on January 7th during a parliamentary debate in the Assembly of the Republic.
“Based on the INE figures, deputy Pedro Pinto from the Chega party mentioned the statistical figures which, in my opinion, are completely wrong”, he highlighted.
According to data provided by INE, Albufeira is the municipality with the highest crime rate, with 9.47 crimes per 100 inhabitants, the most common crimes being those against property (42.5%), physical integrity (9, 8%), driving a vehicle with an alcohol level equal to or greater than 1.2 grams per liter of blood (7.6%).
“In terms of crimes against property, for example, a considerable number concern destroyed rubbish bins, which happens because Albufeira has an internationally known nightlife during the high season”, explains the mayor.
José Carlos Rolo defends “greater social awareness in issuing information” and a distinction in the classification of crimes “with the good use of the Portuguese language”. “The scale of minor offense, serious offense and crime, are expressions that can help not create this discomfort for Albufeirenses, who know the reality of the municipality and who take these recurring statements as a lack of rigor and respect for the entire community”, points.
According to the mayor, the generalization of crime data results in “a situation identical to that which occurred in 2020 during the period of the covid-19 pandemic, which showed Albufeira with more infected people than inhabitants, which was not true”.
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